Starbuck untamed at R.I. Comic Con

Thursday

Nov 8, 2012 at 2:00 PMNov 8, 2012 at 2:29 PM

At the “Battlestar Galactica” reunion at last week’s R.I. Comic Con in Providence, Dirk Benedict seemed to be the splitting-image of his sci-fi counterpart, the wise-cracking, cigar-chomping, whiskey-swigging, speaking-before-thinking viper pilot, Starbuck.

A little older and not any wiser, Benedict, who was dressed more appropriately for an “A-Team” reunion than a “Battlestar” one, was quick with the off-the-cuff retort and is able to find a delicious double-entendre in every question thrown to the panel.

The “Battlestar” reunion was the highlight of a weekend made up of nothing but highlights. The convention center was packed with sci-fi fans, many in costumes (my favorite being a pretty girl made up to look like samurai-welding heroine Michonne from “The Walking Dead,” complete with a pair of jawless, armless zombies made out of Styrofoam.)

Then, the obvious question came to Benedict. What would it take for him to suit up again as colonial viper pilot Starbuck?

“I did Starbuck last night but nobody was there,” Benedict remarked. “It’s not going to happen. Let’s be honest. I’m not going to play Starbuck again (as he broke into mock crying).”

Benedict mentioned how Hollywood scriptwriter Tom DeSanto (“X-Men”) was shopping around a wonderful script featuring a 55-year-old Starbuck as a viper pilot trainer but the Universal Studios and the Sci-Fi Channel wasn’t interested.

“He was still drinking. He was still smoking. He was still the same Starbuck. But it was filled with all the pathos and what happens to a guy who refuses to grow up,” Benedict continued. “And when they came and regurgitated, reimagined it, they weren’t going to do the Starbuck I played be on television. He’s a womanizer. He’s politically incorrect. He’s a scoundrel. So he’s gone. Starbuck will never again be on television. Not my Starbuck.”

Although he said he doesn’t hate Ronald D. Moore’s re-imaging of “Battlestar Galactica,” Benedict wrote a “philosophical treatise” on the topic with a title that says its all, “Starbuck: Lost in Castration.”

Can’t wait for Benedict’s kiss-all book on every Hollywood starlet that he slept with (and, all after Warren Beatty, Benedict said) that the 67-year-old actor is seriously pondering after my brother and I spoke to him at great length at his booth about the best-selling potential of such a literary project. (Craig S. Semon)